We compared estimates of net primary production (NPP) from the MODIS satellite with estimates from a forest ecosystem process model (PnET-CN) and forest inventory and analysis (FIA) data for forest types of the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The regional means were similar for the three methods and for the dominant oak? hickory forests in the region. However...

Several studies have reported different estimates for forest biomass carbon (C) stocks in China. The discrepancy among these estimates may be largely attributed to the methods used. In this study, we used three methods [mean biomass density method (MBM), mean ratio method (MRM), and continuous biomass expansion factor (BEF) method (abbreviated as CBM)] applied to...

We develop an approach for estimating net ecosystem exchange (NEE) using inventory-based information over North America (NA) for a recent 7-year period (ca. 2000-2006). The approach notably retains information on the spatial distribution of NEE, or the vertical exchange between land and atmosphere of all non-fossil fuel sources and sinks of CO2,...

Effects of a catastrophic blowdown event in northern Minnesota, USA were assessed using field inventory data, aerial sketch maps and satellite image data processed through the North American Forest Dynamics programme. Estimates were produced for forest area and net volume per unit area of live trees pre- and post-disturbance, and for changes in volume per unit area and...

Site index, estimated as a function of dominant-tree height and age, is often used as an expression of site quality. This expression is assumed to be effectively independent of stand density. Observation of dominant height at two different ponderosa pine levels-of-growing-stock studies revealed that top height stability with respect to stand density depends on the...

The accuracy of forest soil C and N estimates is hampered by forest soils that are rocky, inaccessible, and spatially heterogeneous. A composite coring technique is the standard method used in Forest Inventory and Analysis, but its accuracy has been questioned. Quantitative soil pits provide direct measurement of rock content and soil mass from a larger, more...

Accurate estimates of growth and structural changes are key for forest management tasks such as determination of optimal rotation times, optimal rotation times, site indices and for identifying areas experiencing difficulties to regenerate. Estimation of structural changes, especially for biomass, is also key to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions/sequestration. We...

The USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis (NRS-FIA) program is changing to a Web-based, dynamically linked reporting system. As part of the process, this year NRS-FIA is producing this abbreviated summary of 2005 data. This resource bulletin reports on area, volume, and biomass using data from 2001 through 2005. Estimates from...

The U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station's Forest Inventory and Analysis program is continuing its annual inventory of Missouri's forest resources. This report presents estimates of area, volume, and biomass using data for 2005, and growth, removals, and mortality using data for the most recent remeasurement period. Estimates from this inventory...

The ability to estimate and monitor standing dead trees (snags) has been difficult due to their irregular and sparse distribution, often requiring intensive sampling methods to obtain statistically significant estimates. This study presents a new method for estimating and monitoring snags using neighborhood attribute filtered airborne discrete-return lidar data. The...

The proper estimation of above-ground biomass (AGB) stocks of managed forests is a prerequisite to quantifying their role in climate change mitigation. The aim of this study was to analyze the spatial variability of AGB and its uncertainty between actively managed pine and unmanaged pine-oak reference forests in central Mexico. To investigate the determinants of AGB,...

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program of the USDA Forest Service reports data and information about the Nation's forest resources. Increasingly, users request that FIA data and information be reported and distributed in a geospatial context, and they request access to exact plot locations for their own analyses. However, the FIA program is constrained by...

The General Land Office of the United States of America surveyed the state of Missouri during the first half of the 1800s. Frequently relying on witness trees to mark corners of surveyed units, surveyors also recorded other trees situated on or near the survey lines. Using plot-level data from inventories conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station...

Non-native invasive plants (NNIP) are rapidly spreading into natural ecosystems such as forests in the Upper Midwest. Using the strategic inventory data from the 2005-2006 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service?s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and forest land cover data, we estimated the regional-invasibility patterns of NNIPs for major...

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Missouri based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory reports for...

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for this state based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information regarding past inventory reports for...

The terrestrial carbon sink has been large in recent decades, but its size and location remain uncertain. Using forest inventory data and long-term ecosystem carbon studies, we estimate a total forest sink of 2.4 ± 0.4 petagrams of carbon per year (Pg C year-1) globally for 1990 to 2007. We also estimate a source of 1.3 ± 0.7 Pg...

Net primary productivity (NPP) is a key flux in the terrestrial ecosystem carbon balance, as it summarizes the autotrophic input into the system. Forest NPP varies predictably with stand age, and quantitative information on the NPP-age relationship for different regions and forest types is therefore fundamentally important for forest carbon cycle modeling. We used four...